In a stunning move Tuesday, Mendocino County supervisors suspended embattled Auditor Chamise Cubbison without pay although the elected county official has yet to have a chance to enter an expected not guilty plea to a felony charge of misappropriation of public funds filed against her by District Attorney David Eyster.
Board members took their action Tuesday afternoon after apparently being advised by an outside hired attorney that they had the authority to bar Cubbison from her office and appoint a deputy county administrator in her place. Morin Jacob of the San Francisco law firm of Liebert, Cassidy Whitmore cited a state labor code, but the provision refers only to an elected county Treasurer, and not specifically Auditor/Controller/Tax Collector, the combined positions that Cubbison was elected to hold.
Jacob and her law firm have represented the county as outside legal advisers before. Jacob did not return calls for comment, nor did individual supervisors after Tuesday’s surprise vote. Cubbison’s attorney Chris Andrian said Tuesday he had never heard of such an action being taken against an elected official without a hearing or court adjudication.
“Can an elected official really be suspended without due process?” he asked.
Andrian said he is conferring with labor law attorneys on behalf of Cubbison.
Cubbison declined to comment on the board’s surprise action but her chief deputy spoke on her behalf.
“Chamise is without doubt a dedicated county official who is known for her honesty and integrity,” said Kikie DeLong, chief deputy Auditor. “The board’s action is premature. We don’t have any of the facts on the table yet.”
Carrie Shattuck, a candidate for the Board of Supervisors in next year’s election, addressed the board directly after it voted unanimously to suspend Cubbison.
“I think the board is really jumping the gun. Ms. Cubbison has not even been arraigned yet,” said Shattuck. Shattuck said the move to criminally accuse Cubbison, and the board’s quick move to suspend her suggests “It’s very obvious now that we know why there was a contingency plan for a Department of Finance.”
Cubbison supporters believe county leadership, including District Attorney Eyster, wants to forcibly remove the Auditor so they can move ahead with a controversial plan to create a new Department of Finance.
For his part, Eyster has been at odds with the county Auditor’s Office over spending practices since he took office in 2011, quarreling with three different auditors with Cubbison being the latest.
In 2013 former Auditor Meredith Ford squared off with Eyster over his planned use of asset forfeiture money from largely drug-related cases to “basically pay for all of his office expenses.” Ford told county supervisors then that her review of federal guidelines surrounding use of asset forfeiture funds “does not say that they are to be used for everyday operations.”
Eyster subsequently engaged in sparring matches with Ford’s successor, Lloyd Weer, also over the DA’s use of asset forfeiture funds, and travel expense reimbursements that did not conform to county procedures.
When Cubbison became Assistant Auditor-Controller, she too questioned Eyster’s refusal to follow county reimbursement guidelines.
For their part, county Supervisors ignored warnings from Cubbison and other seasoned county department heads that combining formerly independent elected offices into one would create chaos and remove vital internal controls over county finances. They floated the idea of a new Department of Finance during that fierce debate.
Cubbison eventually was elected head of the combined offices after the board forged ahead, but the departments have been swamped by an exodus of experienced employees, a years old software system that is still not functioning correctly and delayed financial reporting and audits. Some board members have seized upon the continuing problems as justification for a new county Department of Finance.
In 2021, Eyster vehemently tried to block Cubbison’s appointment as auditor following former Auditor Weer’s early retirement in 2021. He then worked behind the scenes with board members on a plan to consolidate the Auditor/Controller’s Office with the county’s Treasurer/Tax Collector in hopes that move would eventually lead to a new Department of Finance as advocated by some supervisors.
Cubbison ran for election to oversee the newly combined offices, and she won to the chagrin of Eyster and her board critics.
How solid the county’s finances are has been relentlessly debated for several years but the only thing to emerge this year has been more turmoil at the board level, and now a criminally accused Auditor is suddenly suspended without pay.
Tuesday was expected to be a routine court appearance for Cubbison and co-defendant Paula June Kennedy, the county’s former payroll manager, but it proved to be a chaotic day as Eyster, and board members scrambled to position themselves in an unprecedented political drama. The tumultuous day ended with the board acting to suspend the auditor without giving her or a representative the opportunity to speak on her behalf.
Eyster started his day by showing up unexpectedly Tuesday morning at the start of the county supervisors’ meeting and speaking publicly about what he characterized as “misinformation” and “speculation” being spread in local media, and among county employees. In his comments, Eyster repeatedly referred to Auditor Cubbison as a “county employee” rather than the elected official she is.
Eyster insisted he has no vendetta against the Auditor despite repeated run ins with her over his office’s spending patterns. The district attorney claimed the investigation that led to the felony criminal complaint he filed against Cubbison Friday afternoon was instigated by “outside” sources.
In fact, the county executive office was told to refer questions it raised about extra pay allegedly wrongfully authorized for Kennedy by Cubbison to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office for investigation. Cubbison has said she believed the extra pay agreement cited in the felony charge was agreed upon by former Auditor Weer. He has refused to return calls for comment.
Sheriff Matt Kendall said the county executive office referred concerns about the arrangement to his office for investigation. “I assigned it to a seasoned investigator, and we delivered a fair and impartial report,” said Kendall. Eyster, however, pushed his own squad of investigators to do more, leading to DA’s decision to file charges against Cubbison and Kennedy.
Attorney Andrian said there is no evidence of criminal intent on Cubbison’s part, nor did she personally benefit from any of the $68,000 in extra pay the county paid to Kennedy for work done during the Covid pandemic. Deputy Chief Auditor DeLong said the board should presume Cubbison is innocent until proven guilty of any wrongdoing. “They acted prematurely today. She has not even been arraigned,” said DeLong.
Entry of pleas from Cubbison and Kennedy on the single felony charge facing each was delayed until Oct. 31. Kennedy sought the delay because she is seeking legal representation from the county’s Public Defender Office. DA Eyster so far refuses to answer questions put to him about his perceived bias against Cubbison, and whether he has a conflict given his record of sharp disagreements with the Auditor’s Office over the span of his tenure as the county’s chief prosecutor.
* * *
AND THIS EVENING a preposterously self-congratulatory message from the supervisors, evidently written by 5th District supervisor Williams, who was observed grinning this afternoon at the suspension of Auditor Cubbison.
Mendocino County District Attorney Files Felony Charges Against Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Chamise Cubbison
Mendocino District Attorney David Eyster filed a criminal complaint of misappropriation of public funds, a felony, in Mendocino County Superior Court on October 13th against Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector Chamise Cubbison and former County Payroll Manager, Paula June “PJ” Kennedy.
In a public meeting of the Board of Supervisors today, the Board voted to suspend Cubbison in light of these criminal charges, and appoint Sara Pierce as Acting Auditor-Controller-Treasurer-Tax Collector.
“The charges highlight the need for strong integrity by our public officials and business controls within our departments to safeguard the public interest and funds entrusted to us. Thankfully, we have a CEO who has done just that,” said Supervisor Ted Williams.
The District Attorney’s investigation was prompted after the CEO’s office found evidence of misappropriation of funds in September 2022. “I’d like to acknowledge and thank District Attorney Eyster and the Sheriff’s Office for the thorough and professional approach their offices have undertaken with this investigation. We’re looking forward to continuing to work cooperatively together so that the County can come out of this stronger than ever,” commented Supervisor Williams. Pierce’s acting appointment is a welcome addition, “Ms. Pierce is highly respected and capable, and we’re looking forward to the stability and operational continuity that she’ll provide.”
“After it became clear that further investigation was necessary, the Executive Office, Human Resources and IT worked together to further understand the extent of the issue and preserve evidence. We also brought on a forensic auditing firm in March 2023 to concretely assess the overall strengths and weaknesses of our internal controls,” said Supervisor Williams.
“While we don’t know what the outcomes will be with the criminal proceedings, nor the results of the State Controller’s audit that is also underway, we welcome the opportunity to understand where we can improve our systems and will be evaluating additional control measures,” continued Supervisor Williams. “There’s simply no place for this type of misconduct in Mendocino, and to the extent our policies can reaffirm public integrity, that’s what County leadership intends to do.”
What if the esteemed cheerleaders at the AVA have it completely wrong about their champion Chamise? She is almost 500 days in office without a report or a carry forward balance on a county budget. WTF!?!?
Buh bye Chamise! Sorry I missed the going away party today.
On the other hand, if this is all bullshit, what the county will have to pay for the inevitable lawsuit will really screw the budget and make our esteemed government leaders look even worse than they do now. This sure has the appearance of a bizarre, clumsy and ill considered power move by people that should know better. And all this drama for a questionable 68 grand payout, that was done out in broad daylight, when there’s actually way more serious grift happening in the budget’s shadows?
The Major presents in his reporting and editorializing the barriers to good functioning by that dept and what he sees as unfair pressure on her and her dwindling crew.
What is upsetting about the DA and BOS actions is the prospect of prison time (up to 4 years) for these two women and the damage to their future prospects due to what clearly seem to be only a matter of informally adjusting someone’s pay for added work done during the COVID emergency.
We sure love locking people up in cages!
The root of this chaos –this madness! — can be traced to one person…Carmel Angelo.
Carmel Angelo controlled county finances. She controlled the budget process. She controlled all information about county finances. And she deliberately obfuscated county finances, keeping both the BOS and the general public in the dark.
Damn her!
Truth that.
Mendocino Board of Supervisors AKA Goon Squad, misappropriates financial Risk Management legal liability, encouraged by a defective legal analysis in Public Comment agenda open meeting, by an embattled aging District Attorney who exhibits increasing signals of hostile senility stress, over his own allocation of Asset Forfeiture monies. No to King Maggot Rump wannabes.
—> Exhibit One, why the lawless Mendo BOS should probably not oversee a Department of Finance, to be possibly considered in a vote of County citizens.
—> BoboKnows. 20 MIN AGO October 16, 2023.
News reports say the DA brought charges, but no arraignment had occured prior to the board of supervisors pushing out the elected auditor.
CA Government Code (2406) allows the board to remove a county officer upon certification of felony conviction.
The code provides for deputies to act for the county official in cases of vacancies (GC 2400).
The board of supervisors does not have the authority to remove an elected official from office that is not convicted of a felony; and they don’t have the authority to appoint a deputy for an elected officer.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/da-mendocino-county-auditor-former-payroll-manager-misappropriated-funds/
Fact identified as the charged crime: allowing extra pay for extra tasks during COVID emergency without board approval (emergency declared statewide).
Possible basis for above being legal (note “emergency” in text):
2021 California Code
Government Code – GOV
TITLE 3 – GOVERNMENT OF COUNTIES
DIVISION 3 – FINANCIAL PROVISIONS
CHAPTER 1 – Budget and Tax Levy
ARTICLE 6 – Appropriations and Transfers
Section 29122.
Universal Citation: CA Govt Code § 29122 (2021)
29122.
The board shall not approve a claim and the auditor shall not issue payment for any obligation in excess of that authorized in the budget unit appropriation, except upon an order of a court, for an emergency, or as otherwise provided by law.
This premature action by the Board of Supervisors is a classic case of “Ready, Fire, Aim”.
I could not be more outraged at and ashamed of them.
Presumption of innocence is a hallmark of Justice.
They couldn’t (even) wait for an arraignment!?!
Ready! Fire! Aim!
This is a very low day in the annals of our County.
They didn’t need to wait for the filing deadline to pass to simultaneously and unanimously endorse Trevor Mockel to replace McGourty. So why wait to drop Cubbison? They seem to be able to do some things very quickly. Other things, like getting ordinary budget reports from their own departments… Not so much.
More knowledge left the County…if Sara Pierce, acting ACTTC is able to fill this position and do the work, then why has she not been providing reports from the CEO office to the BOS all along? Why has the CEO office not been providing department budget numbers to the BOS, which is their job? Is Pierce qualified to hold this position? What about Chamise’s seat on the Retirement Board? It’s so obvious now that this has been the plan all along. How do you circumvent an elected position to an appointed one? Just like this. The replacement for the remaining 3 years 2 months of Chamise’s term has now been hand picked by the BOS.
What if these charges are dropped to a misdemeanor or she is found not guilty? What kind of backlash will there be then?
Re: Poisoning the Pool
I’ve gotta say that all involved have done a bang-up job of poisoning any potential juror pool. Mendocino County governance appears to have devolved into a pack of fools fighting over where to put the deck chairs while the ship slowly slips beneath the waves.
Conflict of Interest—District Attorneys
As noted by several on this issue, DA Eyster’s past comments and actions regarding Chamise Cubbison, on several issues, are well known. Is he–and those who work under his supervision–the right choice for a dispassionate, fair prosecution of the alleged crime?
California Code, Penal Code – PEN § 1424
“(a)(1) Notice of a motion to disqualify a district attorney from performing an authorized duty shall be served on the district attorney and the Attorney General at least 10 court days before the motion is heard. The notice of motion shall contain a statement of the facts setting forth the grounds for the claimed disqualification and the legal authorities relied upon by the moving party and shall be supported by affidavits of witnesses who are competent to testify to the facts set forth in the affidavit. The district attorney or the Attorney General, or both, may file affidavits in opposition to the motion and may appear at the hearing on the motion and may file with the court hearing the motion a written opinion on the disqualification issue. The judge shall review the affidavits and determine whether or not an evidentiary hearing is necessary. The motion may not be granted unless the evidence shows that a conflict of interest exists that would render it unlikely that the defendant would receive a fair trial…”
THE POWER OF PROSECUTORS
“Seventy-five years ago, Robert Jackson, then Attorney General of the United States, warned in a now-famous speech:
‘[t]he prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America.’ Jackson explained that a prosecutor can have citizens investigated and, if he is that kind of person, he can have this done to the tune of public statements and veiled or unveiled intimations…The prosecutor can order arrests, present cases to the grand jury in secret session, and on the basis of his one-sided presentation of the facts, can cause the citizen to be indicted and held for trial. He may dismiss the case before trial, in which case the defense never has a chance to be heard. Or he may go on with a public trial. If he obtains a conviction, the prosecutor can still make recommendations as to sentence, as to whether the prisoner should get probation or a suspended sentence, and after he is put away, as to whether he is a fit subject for parole.” (Jackson 1940, p. 3).
“The Problems With Prosecutors”
Annual Review of Criminology Vol 1, 2018,
David Alan Sklansky pp 451-469
I’m curious about the legal basis in the Government Code granting the Board of Supervisors the authority to suspend an elected official. I seriously doubt being charged with a criminal office makes it possible. If they can do it, beware Assessor and DA if they don’t like you.
Thanks Duncan for your professional opinion. You’re one of the best. I hope you take the defendant’s cases. No one knows about Mendocino County corruption more than you or Doug Losak. Doug used to be on the other side.
Marmon
Losak resigns as Mendocino County Counsel
Losak said Monday that he expected that his resignation would become effective around Oct. 23. He said he accepted an offer to work for former Mendocino County District Attorney Duncan James at his Ukiah law firm, and that he wanted to get back into private law and work more litigation cases.
“Duncan James has a good office and good reputation and I think it will be a good place for me,” Losak said. Losak said he was unaware of any potential candidates that could be in line to fill his position.
“It will be up to the board on what they want to do next,” he said.
https://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/2015/09/29/losak-resigns-as-mendocino-county-counsel/
Marmon
SupervisorTed Williams: A question for you, and an honest answer requested:
Were you the County person responsible–either directly or indirectly by asking a County staff person to act– for reporting the Cubbison/Kenndy matter to MCSO for investigation?
It’s tickles me, not only do Mendo conservatives dislike bow tie Ted, but also there isa large proportion of radical left nut cases in Mendo don’t’ trust him as well.
Marmon
From San Jose Spotlight March 1 2023:
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to explore a policy allowing the county to suspend an elected official if the person faces charges from the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury. Right now the county has no way of doing so, said Supervisor Otto Lee, who proposed the plan. The lack of such a measure allows disgraced elected officials to dodge accountability and erodes public trust, he said.
“Under the law in California, the Board of Supervisors cannot vote a public official out, so how do you hold somebody accountable?” Lee told San José Spotlight. “And when somebody is accused of these types of wrongdoings, obviously they will focus on defending those charges and is no longer able to do whatever job they were elected to do.”
Hmm, if this means what I think it does, the Supervisors broke the law of the State of California. Each member should be charged accordingly and Cubbison reinstated immediately. The BOS is fiddling while Mendocino County is burning.
If the Board of Supervisors had no legal authority to suspend Cubbison, then she is only suspended if she agrees to it, and does not call their bluff, by not returning to work in her office.
If physically prevented from carrying out the duties for which elected, such as the County changing entrance and digital locks, a path is to gather the evidence and file a motion for a restraining order with the court to enjoin the County and District Attorney from actions not orderly allowed under law during judicial determination, including the withholding of salary for work performed.
Smells kinda like a political hit job, but time will tell.
Perhaps the BOS should look into the previous CEO and Deputy CEO’s shenanigans involving some questionable real estate deals and especially certain outside “consultants” that have cost the tax payers way north of 7 digits and years of delays in completing county projects.
It would be interesting to see a 60 minutes news crew and a carload of hawkish independent accountants in the County lobby at 0800 hours Monday Morning on a no BS fact finding mission.
The taxpayers in Mendocino County deserve better.
I, like many other commenters in this feed, am so ashamed of the way this nonsense has been handled. An old Sicilian saying applies here, “The fish stinks from the head down.” …….The dominos will be falling. There’s a reason the past CEO, Health Officer, etc., have bailed. They got what they could and jumped ship. Chamise seems to be a victim of the evil agenda. Someone qualified, please step up and help defend this woman!